September 02, 2009

Baker Botts' lawyer count drops 11 percent since January

Last Wednesday, Tex Parte reported that Baker Botts was laying off lawyers for economic reasons, however firm spokesman Mike Cinelli said the firm would not disclose numbers or further details. So we compared the number of lawyers on the firm’s Web site on Aug. 26, and the number on the site yesterday. Some lawyers may have left the firm for reasons not related to the layoffs. That said, there were 25 fewer associates (14 men and 11 women) listed on the Baker Botts Web site on Sept. 1 compared to the number listed on Aug. 26. Yesterday the firm had 733 lawyers firmwide, but last week it listed 758. Twelve of the 25 associates no longer listed on the Web site practiced in Houston; eight in Dallas, three in Washington, D.C.; and two in Austin. Based on information on the State Bar of Texas Web site and other Internet research, the years in which 22 of those associates were licensed to practice ranged from 2001 to 2009. Fifteen of the 25 worked in practice areas including energy, corporate, commercial litigation, finance, real estate, administrative/government and intellectual property. And the law schools from which 21 of the 25 graduated included the University of Texas School of Law; the University of Houston Law Center; Baylor Law School; Southern Methodist University School of Law; the University of Arkansas School of Law; Vanderbilt University Law School; Cornell University Law School; Georgetown University Law Center; the University of Maryland School of Law; the University of Pennsylvania Law School; Columbia Law School; Washington University in St. Louis School of Law; and Harvard Law School. In January Baker Botts had 825 lawyers firmwide, in May there were 766 lawyers, and according to the firm’s Web site, on Sept. 1 there were 733. So since January, Baker Botts’ lawyer count has dropped by 92 lawyers, an 11 percent decrease. Cinelli says the firm declines to comment about the numbers.-- Colleen Bridget McGushin and Miriam Rozen